Children Like Bed Stories When They Are Sick
by Yell the Punmeister
Summary: Kagura has a fever, and Shinpachi is out. Gintoki just wants to read his Jump in peace. Another one in my series of one-shots. When will this end!


The sun was high above Kabuki district. People were doing their daily chores. But in Yorozuya, everything was calm. After all, they were all lazy people.

It was Sunday. There isn't usually that much work on Sunday at Yorozuya. Well, if they were lucky, they would get some minor job: finding a cat, walking the dog, bringing down the government… Okay, that one was just a coincidence. All in all, everything was going towards another lazy day…

Sakata Gintoki was at his usual spot – the desk in the living room, right in front of the window, where he had a nice view of the living room. The room was silent and he was casually rereading his Jump. Usually, he and Kagura would wake up at the same time, but today, she overslept. That was kind of odd, but since it was weekend, he thought he shouldn't bother her… After all, despite her lazy appearance, she was an energetic girl who needed plenty of rest.

Still, he couldn't help himself but steal occasional glances at the cabinet shelf she sleeps in. It was out of character for her to sleep so much and he wasn't used to the quiet in the morning.

Couple of times he considered to go and wake her up, but quickly changed his mind. It is not always a good idea to wake a Yato, especially if they are grumpy in the morning. Too many times he had to pay for repairs of the door because Shinpachi would try to wake her. But when the clock struck eleven in the morning, he put his Jump down and decided that enough is enough.

Right at that moment the door opened and Kagura walked in. Gintoki sighed and brought the comic back to his eyes.

"Good morning."

There was no response. He heard the girl slowly walk to the bathroom. What is it today? Is it because it's Sunday? That was highly unusual behavior…

After ten minutes, Kagura emerged from the bathroom. He didn't really pay attention, waiting for her to settle at the bench and watch television. But instead, she continued standing in the middle of the room, slightly confused.

"Where is Shinpachi?"

"He will be late today. He said something about going with that gorilla sister of his shopping. He should be coming soon"

"…"

Gintoki lowered the Jump for the second time that morning and looked at Kagura. She seemed unusually tired. Did she have insomnia again? If that was the case, he wouldn't have had any sleep. It's always like that. Pester the others when you're in trouble. Well, whatever is the case, she'll sober up soon enough.

"Where is Shinpachi?"

Now slightly annoyed, he looked at her impatiently.

"I already told you…"

And then he noticed it. Kagura wasn't feeling good. Her eyes were out of focus and she was struggling to be on her feet. With a sigh, he stood up and took her in her arms.

"Off you go to bed."

"But…"

"No buts… you have a fever. I'll see if we have some medicine."

"I can manage."

"Of course you can."

"I am strong"

"The strongest on this planet, yes."

"I can kill you in your sleep."

"Of course you can, but after you get healthy."

"I will kill you in your sleep."

"Right now you can't even stand on your feet. There. Off you go. Sleep!"

Kagura looked at the bed and begrudgingly climbed back into it. Then, a thought occurred to her.

"Gin-chan, tell me a story"

"What? You damn brat, you're too old to be told stories."

"Please."

Gintoki looked at her. She must have some bad fever if she just said that word. He sighed and scratched his head in exasperation.

"Okay, let me think about it. Now, I'll see if we got something for that fever of yours…"

He went to the bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet. Rummaging through it, he found some sleeping pills. He frowned slightly. The date has expired. Not that he planned to give them to her. Still, he didn't like them.

Back in the days, they were his only friend. God knows how many nights he spent walking back and forth the living room, trying to calm himself. The nightmares were really awful and always left the feeling of anxiety in him. He still remembered those dreams like they happened a minute ago; so much blood, the smell of dead people, sound of rain, and silence. That deafening silence that made his bones chill. That is the sound dead people make.

Otose gave him those pills; must have been annoyed by him making so much noise walking. They saved him, to be honest. The meds put him in some kind of dreamless sleep. It didn't make him any less tired, but at least he was able to function.

Gintoki made a mental note to send Shinpachi later to buy something for fever, and took a cloth and some water to try to ease Kagura's fever. When he returned, he was surprised by her being still awake.

"You promised me a story."

"I didn't promise you anything!"

"Well, that's what people do when someone's sick! They tell them a story!"

"So you admit you are sick?"

"Shut up!"

He picked up the wet cloth and put it on her forehead. He looked at her and saw that expectant look in her eyes. Well, she is a child, after all. Feeling that he is going to cave in soon, he sighed deeply and started praying that Shinpachi will come back soon.

"A long time ago…"

"How long are we talking here?"

"Does time really matter, you damn brat?"

"Well I want to know the details."

"Just shut up and listen! Okay, where was I…"

"You haven't even started."

"A long time ago, you brat, there was another brat, who was much younger than you. He didn't have parents, nor any family. He was alone. He lived in the woods. "

"He had to have parents. Children are born by people having sex."

"I need to pay more attention to what you watch on television… Anyway, that boy probably had parents, but he doesn't remember them. They probably abandoned him in the woods."

"You're making this stuff up."

"Of course I am. Now, if you interrupt me one more time, I'm going to go back to my Jump."

"Sorry."

"So, where was I? Ah, yes. The boy lived in the woods, alone. He fed on the fruits and other plants and barely survived there. The winters were especially nasty. But whatever happened, he continued to live on, because that's the only thing he ever knew how to do. It was a very lonely life. He wanted a friend, but all the animals that he encountered had either tried to kill him, or ran away from him. He didn't know what he was doing wrong. In the end he became bitter, angry and tired. It was a hard life, always dangerous, kind of sad. After some time, he started to understand what animals said. Some called him a demon, some called him a pray. But all the time, he just didn't understand why. He didn't do anything wrong.

After some time, into the woods came a big, white, wolf. He heard about this "demon" and wanted to check it out. He searched for the child for days, but couldn't find it. Finally, he saw him under a tree, eating some fruits. When the child saw him, he pulled out his stick to defend, but the wolf only started to laugh. 'Silly animals, this isn't a demon, it's just a child.'

Then he picked up the child to raise it as his own…"

Gintoki stopped to look at Kagura. She was sleeping. With a quiet chuckle, he covered her with a blanket and shut the door of the cabinet. He heard the front door open, and looked at Shinpachi who has just entered.

"Good morning, Gin-san. I see you woke up without my help today."

"Oi, I may not be an early riser, but I don't sleep that long, you know. Okay, now listen up, glasses. Kagura has a fever, and we're out of cold medicine. Go buy some."

"She has fever? That is highly unusual."

"Eh? She's a kid. Kids always have some disease in their bodies."

"Fine, fine, I'm too tired to fight with you. I'll go, but first I'll go check up on her."

Shinpachi went to Kagura and smiled at her. She is always, so tough, proud of being a member of the strongest race in the galaxy. Right now, she was as much as vulnerable as a mere human. As he was closing the door, she called him.

"Shinpachi…"

"Yes, Kagura-chan? Do you need something?"

"Gin-chan… Has had a very sad childhood, you know?"

Shinpachi looked at the lazy, perm-headed samurai who was reading a Jump at his desk. He nodded and went outside to buy some medicine.

At his desk, hidden from the view of those two kids, Gintoki was looking at the pills he snatched from the bathroom a while ago.

"I guess I better hold them nearby tonight."

**A/N: **Ah, forgive me, for not updating for so long. The truth is, I've been playing Ace Attorney. That game is cursed. Cursed, I tell ya! So, anyway, I was supposed to be working on some longer fics (two of them), but because of that game, I felt so guilty, that I wrote one short story just because of that. What can I say, I ama weird person. Anyway, here you go. Enjoy!


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